Carly Foulkes has been the public face of T-Mobile for a few years now, but the motorcycle-riding Carly is now getting a little competition in the form of Seattle uber geek and video blogger Chris Pirillo.

Carly Foulkes

Pirillo, who has run the site LockerGnome since 1996, is the star of a 3-minute ad for the Bellevue-based carrier. In many ways, Pirillo is the polar opposite of Carly, and his endorsement of T-Mobile in the documentary-style ad is one that attempts to put a new face on the company.

“I think I’ve always been myself, and comfortable in my own skin,” says Pirillo during his narration. The ad has been viewed nearly 200,000 times on YouTube since its debut.

We asked Pirillo why agreed to do the spot, and here’s what he had to say:

“I said “yes” because I thought it was a pretty cool idea — that, coupled with the never-ending series of emails I receive from boys and girls who are just like me when I was their age,” he said. “They want to know how they can turn their own passions into a career — which is what I started to do in 1996, long before YouTube or Twitter (or even blogs) existed. Those people in my community are a part of my legacy.”

Chris Pirillo

He added:

“I’ve never had the opportunity to surface my story like this before. Someone could watch the video five years from now and hopefully get as much out of it as they would have today. That’s the staying power of technology as an enabler. Who wouldn’t want to get paid for being themselves?”

All Things D notes that Pirillo’s involvement is part of an ongoing T-Mobile campaign that involves other “semi-celebrity endorsers” — including pro surfer Jamie Sterling and DJ RJD2.

John Cook is GeekWire's co-founder and publisher, a veteran reporter and the longest-serving journalist on the Pacific Northwest tech beat. Follow him @johnhcook and email john@geekwire.com.